Chipola edges Gulf Coast, avoids baseball series sweep

Published: Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 07:13 PM.

Chipola rapped out 10 hits against three GC pitchers. McCarthy pitched seven innings in the no-decision. Husum tossed the eighth and ninth and Tres Penny took the loss with one inning of relief.

GC won the first two meetings with Chipola Thursday and Friday. The Commodores wrap up the regular season with a home-and-home against the Indians April 22 and 24.

“Looking at the big picture, you would have liked to get a sweep, but we’re really happy to get 2 out of 3,” Kandler said. “We made an effort we just couldn’t do enough offensively and that’s two really good starts for McCarthy that we weren’t able to give him much.”

GC hosts Pensacola at 5 p.m. Monday in the start of a two-game series. The teams also meet in Pensacola at 5 p.m. Wednesday. GC swept the previous three-game series between the teams March 13-16.

PANAMA CITY — Christian Correa drove in two runs, including one in the pivotal 10th inning, to lead Chipola past Gulf Coast 4-2 in a junior college baseball game Saturday.

The Indians (27-18, 5-7 Panhandle Conference) avoided a series sweep with two runs in the top of the extra frame in the game played at Bill Frazier Field and pulled within two games of the second-place Commodores (28-14, 7-5). GC finished the first round of conference play trailing first-place Tallahassee (37-5, 11-1) by four games. Chipola is in third, just one game ahead of Northwest Florida State (20-16, 4-8), which defeated last-place Pensacola (16-24, 3-9) 6-0 Saturday.

Correa had an RBI single in a two-run first inning. Daniel Mars also had a ground out to score a run in the first off GC starter Joey McCarthy.

Correa and Chase Nyman, who was 2 for 4, had RBIs in the decisive 10th. Cameron Gibson had two hits and scored in the first on Correa’s single. Clayte Rooks had two hits for Chipola, while Bert Givens scored once in each of the first and final frames.

GC’s Matt Miller doubled in Dalton Kelley and Kevin Husum to tie the game 2-2 in the sixth against Chipola starter and winner Michael Mader. Kelley also doubled earlier in the game to finish as GC’s only multi-hit performer.

Mader, a Marianna product, scattered five hits over nine innings and had four strikeouts and one walk. Taylor Lewis had one strikeout and retired the side in order in the 10th for the save.

“Mader threw well, he has a sneaky fastball and gets on the outside half (of the plate),” GC coach Mike Kandler said. “He keeps pounding and pounding and forces you to hit the ball the other way and we couldn’t do it.”

Chipola rapped out 10 hits against three GC pitchers. McCarthy pitched seven innings in the no-decision. Husum tossed the eighth and ninth and Tres Penny took the loss with one inning of relief.

GC won the first two meetings with Chipola Thursday and Friday. The Commodores wrap up the regular season with a home-and-home against the Indians April 22 and 24.

“Looking at the big picture, you would have liked to get a sweep, but we’re really happy to get 2 out of 3,” Kandler said. “We made an effort we just couldn’t do enough offensively and that’s two really good starts for McCarthy that we weren’t able to give him much.”

GC hosts Pensacola at 5 p.m. Monday in the start of a two-game series. The teams also meet in Pensacola at 5 p.m. Wednesday. GC swept the previous three-game series between the teams March 13-16.

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